one thing i always found kinda funny is the GM screen's people use, but then i guess for the most part any notes/characters i have are in a folder or far too cryptic for players to know what the hell i'm doing, (i also allow skill rolls to be done by the player, but if they start metagamming based on their rolls i'll take it out on them after)

but i guess with me in the minority not using screens would be the odd quirk

Not in my opinion, I like the reference data provided on screens but my gaming group stopped using screens to make rolls behind years more like 2 decades ago and it hasn't affected how our games operate other then GM & Players alike all know what the dice rolls come up at the moment they come up no cheating possible. Cheating is why I called a stop to screens of any kind, I personally never used screens to block view of my rolls but I had 2 players and part time GMs that used their screens all the time and I just couldn't believe they were rolling natural 20s as often as they were claiming so I made a new house rule if a screen is stood up on a table for purposes of blocking view of dice rolls or any other activity the screen was subject to immediate death by scissors (1 player didn't believe me and beat me to the scissors so I simply tore up his screen).

I use a screen. And I take full advantage of it. Probably 80%-90% of my dice rolls are fair. But sometimes the power gamer needs to be taken down a notch or two. And sometimes I really don't feel like accidentally eviscerating the physically weak character. And the NPC bonuses will shift depending on the PC bonuses so that everyone has a fair chance. No one has caught on because I run a skills-heavy, combat-light game so there isn't enough combat to start comparing numbers. (My power gamer complains that he designed the character to fight and I'm not providing that. Boo hoo, in my opinion.)

Well if the screen is used as an info source only and laid flat afterwards I have absolutely no problem with that what-so-ever. The player I was referring to above had a bad habbit of rolling his dice (when he was in the role of player or GM didn't matter to him) behind his screen calling out a number and quickly picking up his dice and relocating them to his pile before anyone could peak to see what he actually rolled. He did this for combat as well as skill rolls, let me just say that it got old very fast. I have never believed that a player has the right to hide his rolls from the GM/DM/Judge/whatever the system in question calls it, the GM can hide his/her rolls if s/he chooses to for the very purpose you cited (aka on the spot snap adjustments to the lethality of the game) but to me the players MUST always make rolls in the open for God and everyone to witness. In my current gaming group we have been running the same set of characters for 20+ years now and I have a good idea of what their bonuses and abilities are so if I need to adjust bonuses for NPCs I can do so easily enough in my head (but then again numbers have always been easy for me to work with).

Ah, I misunderstood. I also agree that a player should never hide a dice roll. And I will admit that frequently if I get a natural 20 that I intend to use, I will allow someone to peek over the screen and witness it.

I let most dice rolls be open, though sometimes I'm cheeky and hide results, though the only time I've fudged dice as a GM is to let the players win, and that's only because the game would have to reset...

Though I've let TPK happen more than once. I don't cut them any slack for being stupid.

_________________

Mark Hall wrote:

Y'all seem to assume that Palladium books are written with the same exacting precision with which they are analyzed. I think that is... ambitious.

I tend to let a majority of my "Bad Guys" value life. Not everybody and their brother is going to fight to the death just because they're bad guys. If you're in a firefight with some nicely equipped PC's and you started out with a group of 10 and there are 2 of you left, you're probably going to re-evaluate your decisions and try to flee or at least try to surrender and beg for mercy (optional).

_________________There should be a specific sub-forum of the Rifts forum dedicated to the only hope for salvation of the human race, the Coalition States.

Now, if you had your badguys be cowardly and beg for mercy on a regular basis, then constatnly try to sneak away in the night...like, as a rule of thumb, that would be entertaining, and quickly make evil PC's...because who wants to babysit when you can just put a plasma cartidge in their skull?

_________________

Mark Hall wrote:

Y'all seem to assume that Palladium books are written with the same exacting precision with which they are analyzed. I think that is... ambitious.

Okay, funnier:I learned this one playing D&D in Afghanistan with Canadian Forces and US Army.

Comic Book/Action Movie Physics Mode:What I do is put them in a ridiculously impossible situation and tell them that Comic Book Physics are now in effect. They have 5 minutes (or the time for me to smoke a cigarette) to come up with the most impossible, ridiculous way to save themselves. Anything that you can do in comic books, action films, video games, and stuff like that is good to go. The more ridiculous the outcome, the bigger the experience reward is given to the players (unless it becomes a "No ****, there we were" moment I usually cap the experience at 500 per player).

_________________There should be a specific sub-forum of the Rifts forum dedicated to the only hope for salvation of the human race, the Coalition States.

Joined: Wed Nov 17, 2004 7:58 pmPosts: 4119Location: Sioux Falls SD
Comment: "Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that."~George Carlin

KillWatch wrote:

what kind of trivia?

Guessing it would be trivial details about the previous session. Names of NPCs, which wench slept with which PC, how many blows it took to kill a certain enemy, what the rooms and meals/drinks cost at the inn, etc.

Just a guess, but thats how I'm gonna bring it into my game.

_________________"We live in a world where people use severed plant genitals to express affection. Rifts is really not much weirder than that." ~~Killer Cyborg

"If we let technical problems scare us away from doing anything, humanity would still be in the trees flinging poo at each other."~~Killer Cyborg

One thing I did when I was GMing was have the players run afoul of an dirty, rotten lying scummy, sleezy lawyer who keeps hounding the players with lawsuits and every other underhanded legal trick in the book and then set it it up that they have to save the scum bag or Bad Things happen to them, the ones they love or innocent people and for a kicker I made this low life scum bag a mega villain who was playing the Heros/Players like a fiddle and had her as a reoccurring enemy/questionable allie and all around plot device to really get the player's goat(in game that is).

I try not to have a no in my headI say you can try. I allow the characters to hang themselves, suffer their consequences, let the dice play as they lay.

Screw game balance. I don't worry about it. sometimes some jerkwads are hassling an old lady for her purse. They don't become super villains just because the players get involved. Its nice to be the big bad ass mo fos.sometimes it is better to run. If you I have a built in way for you to rid the world of the old one you thought would be cool to summon,... think again.

No meta gaming from the players or from me. You don't get to change your mind based on player knowledge and neither do I. If the players come up with a good idea that the villain hasn't thought of, excellent you found a whole. Villains won't automatically know what the players have in mind. Sometimes the villains won't even know the heroes exist! I won't design villains just to foil the players. You have no idea what is going to happen during game play and the most random thing may happen and destroy your plans. Unless they are specifically arch villains there is no reason to counter powers with tech etc. Well ok another reason is a long standing back and forth battle with a major recurring villain who has witnessed and studied the heroes and has some kind of obsession with them. But just because they can see the abilities being used it doesn't mean they have a guide book or a RPG book to look up what these strange abilities are and what weaknesses they might have. Major villains need to be as fleshed out as the PCs with their own desires, goals and failings.

Don't have anything in your game you aren't willing to have destroyed. That means, NPCs, Agencies, Bad Guys everything is mutable. NPCs should have their own lives that are not stagnant. NPCs should have relationships and troubles of their own, that the players can get involved in or exposed to providing whole other story arcs. villains can be caught off guard, surprised or fumble a skill roll.

Have a mary sues that dooms themselves through rp-ing. Like a superman who seems all good and untouchable, has a thing for crushing women during sex, exploring just how fragile humans can be. The highly skilled martial artist has a drinking problem. A major NPC is secretly battling stage 4 cancer.

Have consequences for actions. You take out a the major baddy, fine. Is there someone who is waiting in the wings? do they have family or friends or lovers who wish to avenge them? What operations are going to go to hell now that they are not in charge anymore? Villains aren't in costume all the time. They might have secret identities who are married, have children, brothers and sisters, etc whoa re going to wonder where they went and begin their investigation, maybe even hiring the heroes to find them.

One hit wonders. Allow them. If they have been fighting up 13 floors of goons to get to the roof and one hit the viallin with a nat 20 fine. But that should clue them in that life is precious and fleeting and that they are vulnerable to it as well.

Yup, pretty much this. I also have the quirk that whenever someone rolls a 42, they succeed in whatever it was that they were trying to do in some ridiculous crazy flamboyant style. Besides XP, I also award "Cool Points" for outrageous bad@ssery. You know: the guy who casts globe of daylight (for backlight), heavy breathing, summon fog, aura of power and finally wind rush to kick open the doors to the "Thrown Room" just to make a dramatic entrance. "Cool Points" are a combination of exaggerated xp and the improved likelihood of rare/exotic equipment/spells/scrolls/etc. after gaining a few.

_________________My apologies up front if my posts come across as argumentative or crass. It is not a personal attack on anyone, just my blunt style. I bear no ill will towards anybody that plays Palladium Games (there’s not enough of us to hold a grudge).

Joined: Wed Nov 17, 2004 7:58 pmPosts: 4119Location: Sioux Falls SD
Comment: "Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that."~George Carlin

RiftJunkie wrote:

KillWatch wrote:

I try not to have a no in my headI say you can try. I allow the characters to hang themselves, suffer their consequences, let the dice play as they lay.

Screw game balance. I don't worry about it. sometimes some jerkwads are hassling an old lady for her purse. They don't become super villains just because the players get involved. Its nice to be the big bad ass mo fos.sometimes it is better to run. If you I have a built in way for you to rid the world of the old one you thought would be cool to summon,... think again.

No meta gaming from the players or from me. You don't get to change your mind based on player knowledge and neither do I. If the players come up with a good idea that the villain hasn't thought of, excellent you found a whole. Villains won't automatically know what the players have in mind. Sometimes the villains won't even know the heroes exist! I won't design villains just to foil the players. You have no idea what is going to happen during game play and the most random thing may happen and destroy your plans. Unless they are specifically arch villains there is no reason to counter powers with tech etc. Well ok another reason is a long standing back and forth battle with a major recurring villain who has witnessed and studied the heroes and has some kind of obsession with them. But just because they can see the abilities being used it doesn't mean they have a guide book or a RPG book to look up what these strange abilities are and what weaknesses they might have. Major villains need to be as fleshed out as the PCs with their own desires, goals and failings.

Don't have anything in your game you aren't willing to have destroyed. That means, NPCs, Agencies, Bad Guys everything is mutable. NPCs should have their own lives that are not stagnant. NPCs should have relationships and troubles of their own, that the players can get involved in or exposed to providing whole other story arcs. villains can be caught off guard, surprised or fumble a skill roll.

Have a mary sues that dooms themselves through rp-ing. Like a superman who seems all good and untouchable, has a thing for crushing women during sex, exploring just how fragile humans can be. The highly skilled martial artist has a drinking problem. A major NPC is secretly battling stage 4 cancer.

Have consequences for actions. You take out a the major baddy, fine. Is there someone who is waiting in the wings? do they have family or friends or lovers who wish to avenge them? What operations are going to go to hell now that they are not in charge anymore? Villains aren't in costume all the time. They might have secret identities who are married, have children, brothers and sisters, etc whoa re going to wonder where they went and begin their investigation, maybe even hiring the heroes to find them.

One hit wonders. Allow them. If they have been fighting up 13 floors of goons to get to the roof and one hit the viallin with a nat 20 fine. But that should clue them in that life is precious and fleeting and that they are vulnerable to it as well.

Yup, pretty much this. I also have the quirk that whenever someone rolls a 42, they succeed in whatever it was that they were trying to do in some ridiculous crazy flamboyant style. Besides XP, I also award "Cool Points" for outrageous bad@ssery. You know: the guy who casts globe of daylight (for backlight), heavy breathing, summon fog, aura of power and finally wind rush to kick open the doors to the "Thrown Room" just to make a dramatic entrance. "Cool Points" are a combination of exaggerated xp and the improved likelihood of rare/exotic equipment/spells/scrolls/etc. after gaining a few.

I have a player who would so do that.

_________________"We live in a world where people use severed plant genitals to express affection. Rifts is really not much weirder than that." ~~Killer Cyborg

"If we let technical problems scare us away from doing anything, humanity would still be in the trees flinging poo at each other."~~Killer Cyborg

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